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British taxpayers should be able to invest in projects that help end poverty in the poorest nations of the world, UK international development secretary Penny Mordaunt has said.

Ms Mordaunt used a speech in central London to set out her "radical next steps" for reforming the financing of international aid in a post-Brexit world.

She said she wanted to start a “national conversation” about how the UK public invests its money in development projects which would help meet the United Nations global goals for sustainable development.

The goals were agreed in 2015 but a funding gap of $2.5 trillion a year means that the targets will not be met by 2030.

Ms Mordaunt’s speech raised the prospect of tax-free financial products for individuals wishing to invest in high risk but vital development projects in low income countries.

She said: “Why can’t the British people go to their bank and invest their savings and pension in products that will invest in the global goals [for sustainable development]? Or open an app on their phone, and select which goals they’d most like to invest in.”

She added: “We want to give British savers a chance to make a financial return in exchange for their goodwill to change the world for the better.”

She said that UK private investors should get a “triple return on their generosity and compassion” in the shape of a personal return on their investment, a stronger Britain and a “more prosperous and stable world”.

Ms Mordaunt said that the UK was meeting its aid commitments by sticking to its pledge of spending 0.7 per cent of its GDP on development - one of just six developed nations to meet this UN target.

But she said the only way to raise more finance for aid was to harness the power of the private sector, hinting that she might seek a change in the rules so that private sector finance could count towards the 0.7 per cent figure.

“Over the past two years we have worked with our partners to shift the dial on international aid rules, allowing our aid budget to help the private sector invest in sustainable development more than ever before,” she said.

The UK government runs its own development fund, CDC Group which made profits of £1.15bn in the last five years. Currently these profits cannot form part of the 0.7 per cent figure but Ms Mordaunt said the UK should be “open to using these profits to count towards the 0.7 per cent.”

Romilly Greenhill, UK director of the One Campaign, said it was encouraging that Ms Mordaunt said she wanted to work with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on changing the rules on official development assistance (ODA).

"The OECD set the international rules for what counts as ODA and it’s extremely important that the UK, and other countries, work within these agreed rules.

"I agree with Penny Mordaunt that more effort is needed to promote private investment in Sub Saharan Africa. What is equally important is that the investment that reaches Africa really benefits the poorest and most marginalised in society," she said.